Insulated pac boot assembly and associated manufacturing method

ABSTRACT

A footwear assembly comprising an upper connected to a sole assembly, the sole assembly having a midsole fixed to a bottom portion of the upper, the midsole being fixed to an outsole, wherein the midsole is sandwiched between the outsole and the upper, the upper having ankle, vamp, and heel portions defined by a plurality of interconnected panels, a top of the ankle portion defining an opening to an interior area, and a lower part of the ankle portion being connected to the vamp and heel portions; the vamp portion having a waterproof vamp panel securely connected along a bottom edge to the the sole assembly, a top edge portion being connected to one or more reinforcement panels, the vamp panel being a waterproof, co-molded, heat-embossed laminate structure comprising an inner open-cell foam layer sandwiched between inner and outer surface layers and of DWR coated fabric material, wherein the inner surface layer faces inwardly toward the interior area, and the outer surface layer is opposite the inner surface layer and faces outwardly away from the interior area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/564,244, titled Insulated Pac Boot Assemblyand Associated Manufacturing Method, filed Nov. 28, 2011, and which isincorporated herein by reference thereto.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to footwear, such aspac boots, and associated manufacturing methods.

BACKGROUND

Insulated, waterproof or water resistant footwear is often used in coldenvironments for many industrial and professional uses, as well as foroutdoor recreational activities. One common type of such footwearincludes insulated pac boots. These pac boots are often worn by workersin very cold, icy, snowy environments so as to keep their feetrelatively warm and dry in such environmentally hostile conditions.Conventional pac boots include thick layers of insulations within anupper that includes a rubber bottom half and a leather or fabric tophalf. The rubber bottom half provides a waterproof portion that keepsthe wearer's foot dry. The rubber, however, has poor insulativeproperties, so additional insulation layers are often needed. These pacboots are typically heavy, inflexible, and do not fit the wearer's footvery well. Accordingly, there is a need for improved lightweight,insulative, waterproof and/or water resistant pac boots.

SUMMARY

Boot assemblies and associated manufacturing methods in accordance withthe present disclosure provide footwear, such as insulative, waterproofor water resistant boots that overcome drawbacks of the prior art andthat provide other benefits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a lateral isometric view of a footwear assembly in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a medial isometric view of the footwear assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a lateral side elevation view of the footwear assembly ofFigure

FIG. 4 is a medial side elevation view of the footwear assembly of FIG.1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged isometric view of a vamp panel of the footwearassembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a heat embossed vamp panel shown prior toassembly in the footwear assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the vamp panel of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes footwear assemblies and methods ofmanufacturing the footwear assemblies in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention. Several specific details of theinvention are set forth in the following description and the Figures toprovide a thorough understanding of certain embodiments of theinvention. One skilled in the art, however, will understand that thepresent invention may have additional embodiments, and that otherembodiments of the invention may be practiced without several of thespecific features described below.

FIGS. 1-5 show a pac boot 10 in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. While the figures and the following discussion showand refer to a pac boot, it is to be understood that other embodimentswithin the scope of the present invention can include boots, shoes, andother footwear, not just pac boots.

The pac boot 10 of the illustrated embodiment includes an upper 12connected to a sole assembly 14. The sole assembly 14 includes a midsole16 fixed to the bottom portion 18 of the upper 12. The midsole 16 isfixed to an outsole 20, such that the midsole 16 is sandwiched betweenthe outsole 20 and the upper 12. The midsole 16 and the outsole 20 canbe constructed of conventional materials and can be fixed together in aconventional manner.

The upper 12 is configured to receive a wearer's foot through a topopening 22 and to securely retain the foot in an interior area 24 of theupper 12. The upper 12 has an ankle portion 26, a vamp portion 28, and aheel portion 30, which are defined by a plurality of interconnectedpanels 32. The panels 32 can be interconnected via stitching, gluing, orother joining techniques. The upper 12 also includes a tongue 34connected to the vamp portion 28, lace keepers 36 (i.e., eyelets, hooks,etc.) connected to the vamp and ankle portions 28 and 26, a boot lace38, and an internal lining 30 that defines at least a portion of thesurface facing the wearer's foot when in the interior area 24.

The top of the ankle portion 26 defines the opening to the interior area24 and is formed by panels 42 of durable material, such as heavy-dutyfabric, leather, or other suitable materials. The lower part of theankle portion 26 is connected to the vamp portion 28 and the heelportion 30.

The vamp portion 28 of the illustrated embodiment is positioned adjacentto a forefoot area 44 and an arch area 46 of the sole assembly 14. Thevamp portion 28 covers the top and sides of the wearer's foot, includingthe arch area, the instep, the forefoot and toes. In other embodiments,the vamp portion 28 may terminate at or forward of the arch area. Thevamp portion 28 includes a waterproof vamp panel 50 securely connectedalong its bottom edge 52 to the forefoot area 44 and the arch area 46 ofthe sole assembly 14. The top edge portion 54 of the illustrated vamppanel 50 is connected to one or more reinforcement panels 56. Thesereinforcement panels 56 can be connected to the tongue 34 and lacekeepers 36. In other embodiments, the tongue 34 and/or lace keepers 36may be fixed directly to the vamp panel 50 without the use ofreinforcement panels.

The vamp panel 50 is a waterproof, co-molded, heat-embossed laminatestructure comprising an inner open-cell foam layer 60 sandwiched betweensurface layers 62 and 64. In the illustrated embodiment, the open-cellfoam layer 60 is a polyurethane open-cell foam. The outer surface layers62 and 64 include an inner surface layer 62 and an outer surface layer64, respectively, of DWR (Durable Water Repellant) coated fabricmaterial, such as a woven polyester, nylon, blend thereof, or otherfabric coated with DWR. The inner surface layer 62 faces inwardly towardthe interior 24 of the upper 12, and the outer surface layer 64 isopposite the inner surface layer and faces outwardly away from theinterior area 24. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer surface layer64 define an outermost surface of the pac boot in the vamp portion 28,such that the vamp panel 50 is directly exposed to the exteriorenvironment in which the pac boot 10 is worn. Accordingly, the vamppanel 50 may be directly exposed to snow, rain, water, mud, dirt, ice,etc., during use of the pac boot 10. In other embodiments, the foamlayer 60 can be made of other suitable open cell materials, and thesurface layers 62 and 64 can be made of other suitable materials, suchas leather or sufficiently durable woven or non-woven material.

An embodiment of the vamp panel 50 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 before thevamp panel is finished and is integrated with the rest of the upper 12.Prior to assembling the vamp panel 50, the open-cell foam layer 60 andthe surface layers 62 and 64 are each cut or otherwise formed with aselected shape generally corresponding to the outer peripheral shape ofthe laminated vamp panel. The laminated vamp panel 50 is formed bylaying up the foam layer 60 between the surface layers 62 and 64. In atleast one embodiment, an adhesive material can be applied to the foamlayer 60 and/or the surface layers 62 and 64 to help bond the surfacelayers to the foam layer. The adhesive can be a heat activated adhesive.

The lay-up of layers is then compressed in a heated, embossing presshaving opposing contoured, heated press plates so as to apply selectedheat and pressure to the lay-up of layers. The press applies sufficientheat and pressure to the layers so that the surfaces of the open cellfoam layer 60 facing the surface layers 62 and 64 is substantiallyuniformly melted across these surfaces. This melted surface of theopen-cell foam material flows together to form a uniform,water-impermeable skin on the foam that securely bonds with the surfacelayers 62 and 64. In the embodiment wherein additional adhesive is used,the heat from the press plates also activates the adhesive, which canflow together with the melted surfaces of the foam layer. After the heatand pressure are applied, the surface layers 62 and 64 are permanentlylaminated to the foam layer. The uniform, water-impermeable skin on thefoam provides a waterproof barrier that prevents water from passing intoand/or through the foam layer 60. Accordingly, the vamp panel 50 is avery lightweight, flexible, waterproof panel made of fabric and opencell foam material.

In the illustrated embodiment, the heated plates of the press have aselected embossing pattern formed therein. When the lay-up of layers areheated and pressed, the pattern is permanently embossed into the vamppanel 50 to form one or more embossed features 66. In the illustratedembodiment, the embossed features 66 include a contoured toe cap 68, alateral side design 70, and a medial side design 72. Other embodimentscan include other or different embossed features 66. The embossedfeatures 66 can be decorative (such as one or more logos or other designintegrated into the vamp panel 50). The embossed features 66 can also beconfigured to provide some structural aspects to portions of the vamppanel 50. For example, the embossed features 66 may provide bend or flexpatterns for at least portions of the vamp panel 50.

As seen in FIG. 7, the bottom surface 74 of the vamp panel 50 caninclude filler material 76 that fills in portions of the embossed reliefon the bottom surface 74 of the panel. This filler material 76 canprovide for a generally planar arrangement on the vamp panel's bottomsurface 74 (which is not visible to the user when viewing the fullyassembled pac boot 10 (FIG. 1)). This generally planar arrangement canadd to the comfort of the pac boot 10 in the upper 12. The fillermaterial of the illustrated embodiment is a silicone, although othermaterials can be used.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heel portion 30 of the illustratedembodiment is connected to the vamp panel 50 and to the heel area 42 ofthe sole assembly 14. The heel portion 30 defines a heel pocket withinthe boot's interior area 24 to snugly receive and retain the wearer'sheel. The heel portion 30 includes heel panels 78 on the lateral andmedial side adjacent to the sole assembly . These heel panels 78 aremade of a heat embossed, waterproof laminate having substantially thesame layers and construction as the vamp panel discussed above. The useof the heat embossed waterproof laminate in the heel portion 30 helpskeep the weight of the pac boot 10 very low while maintaining a highlydurable, waterproof boot.

The illustrated embodiment is at least a light weight, insulative,partially waterproof pac boot that includes the waterproof vamp panel asdiscussed above. In other embodiments, the footwear in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure can include substantially fullywaterproof footwear that includes the embossed, waterproof vamp panel.For example, the pac boot or other footwear can include a waterproofbarrier in the ankle portion, the heel portion, and the vamp portion toprovide fully waterproof footwear. The waterproof barrier can be a thinbooty made of a waterproof material, such as a breathable waterproofmembrane, and the booty can be disposed within the upper between aninnermost liner or layer and the external layer of the foot wear. In yetanother embodiment, the footwear can be constructed of waterproofcomponents, including the vamp panel, and any seams between thewaterproof components can be taped or otherwise sealed to provide afully waterproof upper. In another embodiment, at least a lower portionof the upper, including the vamp portion and the heel portion, can bemade with a waterproof construction, and the top part of the upper canbe made of leather, fabric, or other water resistant material.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments ofthe invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration,but that various modifications may be made without deviating from theinvention. Additionally, aspects of the invention described in thecontext of particular embodiments or examples may be combined oreliminated in other embodiments. Although advantages associated withcertain embodiments of the invention have been described in the contextof those embodiments, other embodiments may also exhibit suchadvantages. Additionally, not all embodiments need necessarily exhibitsuch advantages to fall within the scope of the invention. Accordingly,the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

I/We claim:
 1. A footwear assembly, comprising an upper connected to asole assembly, the sole assembly having a midsole fixed to a bottomportion of the upper, the midsole being fixed to an outsole, wherein themidsole is sandwiched between the outsole and the upper, the upperhaving ankle, vamp, and heel portions defined by a plurality ofinterconnected panels, a top of the ankle portion defining an opening toan interior area, and a lower part of the ankle portion being connectedto the vamp and heel portions; the vamp portion having a waterproof vamppanel securely connected along a bottom edge to the the sole assembly, atop edge portion being connected to one or more reinforcement panels,the vamp panel being a waterproof, co-molded, heat-embossed laminatestructure comprising an inner open-cell foam layer sandwiched betweeninner and outer surface layers and of DWR coated fabric material,wherein the inner surface layer faces inwardly toward the interior area,and the outer surface layer is opposite the inner surface layer andfaces outwardly away from the interior area.